1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an indicator for indicating when a particular article of clothing has been worn. More particularly, the invention relates to a clothing usage indicator device having printed scales and movable indicators for identifying the day of the week, the day of the month, and the month on which an article of clothing was last worn. The device includes a suitable connector for associating the indicator with a particular article of clothing.
2. Background of the Related Art
Various types of indicators have been disclosed for identifying the number of times a particular article of clothing has been worn, principally for purposes of monitoring the need for washing or dry cleaning. Additionally, such numerical indicators have also been suggested as a way of enabling the balancing of wear between a number of similar articles of clothing, such as, for example, suits, so that one article does not undergo more wear than another. In that regard, U.S. Pat. No. 4,886,010, which issued Dec. 12, 1989, to Ralph Stutzman, discloses a clothing wear monitoring device including an indicator and a strap, the indicator carrying indicating means for displaying both the number of times a garment has been worn and also the year and month in which it was last cleaned. The device as disclosed can either be attached to or formed integrally with a clothing hanger.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,124,284, which issued on Mar. 10, 1964, to Theodore J. Collum, there is disclosed a garment wear record in the form of a tally made from cardboard that is adapted to be folded over and to overlie the shoulder elements of a clothing hanger. The indicator includes a series of aligned, bendable tabs 30, and a tab is bent or folded each time the garment is worn, to thereby maintain a record of the frequency of wear of the garment.
The above-identified clothing monitoring devices are intended to permit a person to keep track of the number of times an article has been worn, to thereby serve as a reminder as to when dry cleaning might be needed. Additionally, it also permits a person to balance the usage of his or her wardrobe by indicating the number of times each of a group of similar garments has been worn, to thereby permit the person to balance the number of wearings of several garments, if desired. Although the devices identified above are generally suitable for their limited intended purpose, there are oftentimes other considerations that influence the frequency of wearing of a particular article of clothing. For example, when a person has a number of articles in his or her wardrobe, it is often difficult to remember when a particular article was last worn, so that too frequent wearing of that particular article can be avoided.
In addition to serving to supplement a person's memory of when a particular garment was last worn, a clothing usage indicator can also be useful to one afflicted with color blindness. When such a person has a number of similar garments that are of different colors, because of his or her color blindness the person might not be able to identify which of two articles of dissimilar color were last worn and when. Additionally, the previously-disclosed indicator devices would be of no help whatsoever to a blind person who wished to know when a particular garment had last been worn.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a clothing usage indicator for indicating at least the day of the week in which a garment was last worn.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a clothing wear indicator that can conveniently be associated with a particular article of clothing and is reusable.